A night under the stars in Jaisalmer

Another tour, another overnight train ride, this time to Jaisalmer in Rajathstan. If you are going to take a seventeen hour train ride in India in 3rd class, I highly recommend that you do it on Diwali. It is like travelling on Christmas Day; pretty much everybody is already at home and so the roads and trains are empty except for a few tourists (ans some Indian guy who started rubbing Mark's feet in the night, thinking it was one of the girls). The other thing that I would suggest is leaving at around 5pm, which gives you an hour of sunlight or so to look out the window, then plenty of time to sleep.

When I awoke in the morning the train was well and truly out in the desert and it is a bleak, bleak place that one does not immediately associate with India. The Thar desert is really an extension of the desert that run the whole way across the Middle East and Africa. The dominant colors are yellow and brown, as there is not enough iron in the rocks to give it a very red color. In the early afternoon we arrived in Jaisalmer and went straight to our hotel, right in the center of the fort that dominates the landscape.

Jaisalmer Fort sits right on the top of a rocky outcrop that dominates the surrounding landscape. Historically this was a key stop on the Silk Road, as it had a large water supply and permanent lake. For a region that gets less than two inches of rain a year, this is a luxury in itself that made the traders in the area very rich. The fort, first built in the 12th century, and added to over the proceeding 800 years is now a rabbit warren of houses, hotels, tourist shops, restaurants, temples and the Mararaja's Palace. Below the fort, the town rings the rocky outcrop and is much like any other town in India that I have visited.

Since it was still Diwali (it goes for two or three days), the vast majority of the shops in the lower town were closed for the day and so we took the opportunity to wander around for a while to get oriented without getting hassled at every step. Most of us then decided to walk around about half of the fort before dinner, to work some of the kings out of our joints that came from sitting and laying down for so long. Jaisalmer is known as the Golden City, as the fort glows that color in the gentle light of sunset, and indeed this is an appropriate name, although it is very difficult to get much of a view of the fort for photos, as the houses in the lower town are built so closely together.

It turns out that our hotel is situated right on one of the 99 bastions that protect the castle and has a rooftop view that is amazing (unfortunately the food doesn't live up to the scenery) and so we were up until after one am having a quite drink and a not so quiet fireworks show. Given that it was Diwali, we had all chipped in to get some fireworks to celebrate the occasion and so spent the evening firing them off. It seems that all the locals were doing the same and there was pretty much constant explosions around the horizon from sunset until well after midnight. The fort is also home to a large colony of bats, which come out as soon as the sun sets. Since our hotel is right on the edge of the fort, there is quite a strong updraft and so all night there were bats just lazily circling in the currents above our heads. The walls of the city are lit by spotlights from below and so the bats looked almost transparent in the powerful orange lights and since they were hovering and not flapping their wings to stay aloft (something I have never before seen a bat do), I could clearly make out the bones and blood vessels in their wings.

As we were up so late, it was a late start to the morning, but there wasn't a whole lot to do in town, no one was in a hurry. Seven of us decided to go wandering in the lower town, with not a whole lot in mind except trying to find two famous Havelis, the ornate houses of very wealthy merchants. Even in the unmarked, winding streets, they were not too hard to find, as they stand taller than the buildings around and the ornate facades jut out into the street. The first haveli that we found was Nathmal-ki-Haveli, which has a pair of beautifully carved elephants guarding the entrance. The carved facade, apart from the aesthetic appeal, has many holes, which allow cool air to penetrate, and more importantly, the owners to look out while no one can look in. The building is well maintained given that it is still occupied by a number of families. There is also a large shop inside, which uses proceeds to maintain the building. There are still some of the original painted tiles and frescoes, so it is well wort a quick stop.

Down another couple of alleys, and over innumerable piles of cow dung, sits the Patwa-ki-Haveli, the former home of a family of Jain merchants, who made their money trading gold, silver and opium. And just let me say that it is a crib that would make any modern drug dealer or rap artist proud, with flashy mirrors and gilting everywhere. Now a museum, it is well maintained and even with a throng of tourists is very interesting. It really show how a wealthy family would have lived, with all the furniture still in the bedrooms, kitchen, living rooms and study. Clearly, though, this is was not a tall family, as the doorways are tiny and more than once Rene and I cracked our heads when standing up too quickly. As a strange side note, the souvenir vendors outside here have all sorts of fridge magnets, with monuments from all over India, but none showing Jaisalmer.

In the late afternoon and once the heat of the day had passed (OK, so it was down from 36C to 32C in the shade) we headed down from the fort and through the old town to the lake that has provided the lifeblood to the town for a millenia. As befits such an important place, the lake is ringed with temples, ghats and shops. Two temples sit in the middle of the lake, accessible only by one of the numerous wooded row boats parked near the entrance. Since the monsoon did not come to northern Indian with it's normal ferocity this year, the lake is really low: the ghats sit high and dry and walking to the island temples would only require pulling your pants up to mid-thigh. As the sun was just about to set, I set off immediately to walk around the lake, to hopefully get a couple of great sunset shots, with the temples reflected in the lake. Unfortunately, I could never seem to get my camera in sync with the sun, and with the exception of one shot showing great silhouettes of wading birds on the shore, all the photos have been relegated to the recycling bin. Even worse, the location of the lake relative to the Fort meant that I couldn't even get a shot of the golden walls that give the town its name. Oh well, such is life.

We had decided to eat at a restaurant near the lake and that has a great outdoor section (if you are into al fresco dining, Rajathstan is your place). While the others went straight for a beer, I stopped off at a small museum that was about to put on a puppet show (hey for a cost 50 rupees, I will pretty much go and see anything). The museum itself is pretty average. It proudly states that it is the work of one man (a retired professor who actually introduced himself to me). Having been in one or two museums in my time, I fully believe this. It actually looks like the work of a guy who retired and didn't know what to do with his time, so he took a lifetime collection of local artifacts, wrote a few signs and assembled them in one room. The single room museum covers everything from the geology and fauna of Rajathstan to the genealogy of its rulers to musical instruments, methods of dying cloth and style of turbans. I will admit that I am being a little unfair, there is some interesting stuff, including a very nice tapestry and some funky flutes.

The puppet show itself was quite interesting, with six or seven acts, each show casing a different puppet. Historically the puppet shows would travel the countryside, telling stories of a political or religious nature. The puppets were accompanied by a guy playing the drums, a guy playing what sounded like castanets (both very well) and a completely tone deaf singing kid . Oddly enough, I was the only foreigner in the packed room (and less oddly, the only person without kids). The first was Ganesh (of course), followed by a warrior, a camel, woman and then a love story. The best one was a double puppet, which starts with a woman wearing a long dress, and with the flick of the wrist, flips and becomes a man. It was quite cool to see the first time or two. Then the puppeteer had sort of had both the man and woman showing and jiggled them around, and to be honest it looked like the guy was having sex with her from behind. Not a good image for a kids show, but I ma sure that no one else got it and maybe it is just my warped thinking. This was followed by a puppet of a "guy fighting a horse" (this is exactly the four word intro to the skit in English, the Hindi intro when for over three minutes). The horse definitely won as at one point the guy's head was up its arse.

Dinner was a wonderful Handi Paneer, and while I am sure that there are plenty of people out there who will not believe this, knowing my carnivorous ways, but this makes the eleventh day since I have eaten any meat. And to be honest I don't miss it. Yet. But I wouldn't say no to a nice big steak, medium rare with mushrooms and blue cheese. the fort is wonderfully lit up at night and so on the way back I got some nice snaps using my tripod and headed back for an early night. As a side note here, Indians like to save petrol by turning the engine off their rickshaw or motorbike and coast down hills with no lights on. This is dangerous enough during the day, but on a winding, walled road at night, with no street lighting it is downright deadly. Just FYI for anyone who comes to Jaisalmer, keep your wits about you and stay light on your feet.

The big activity for the next day was an evening camel safari out into the desert and then camp overnight in the sand dunes. We had the whole morning free and so I dedicated it to visiting the main sights in the fort that I had avoided the day before, the Jain temples, the Maharaja's Palace and the Hindu Temple. Unlike any other town in India that I have previously visited, the main temples in Jaisalmer are Jain, which is probably because it was historically a trading town and the rich traders in these parts were Jain. Jainism is, as far as I can tell, a very austere form of Buddhism. They are strict vegetarians (and wont eat anything that grows under ground, like potatoes), will not kill anything (they carry a broom to sweep insects out of their path and off a set before they sit), but do have statues of the Buddha in their temples. The temples in fact, look a lot like what I think of as Thai Buddhis temples, rather than Tibetian Buddhist temples. The temple roofs are pointy, with very ornately carved statues and inside there are statues of Buddha and many females that look like they are straight out of a Hindu temple. As a side note, it seems that Jains really like their goddesses very well endowed, symmetrical, gravity defying and topless. I know, most guys do, but the extremes that they go to here are almost laughable.

My next stop was the Maharaja's Palace, which appropriately enough, sits right above the entrance gate to the fort and is now a museum. I am not an audio guide kind of guy, but since it was included with the ticket, I listened in and quite enjoyed it. As I rose higher and higher through the palace, through bedrooms, reception rooms, courtyards and displays of weaponry, statues and photos, the views of the surrounding city improved until I reached the top, for stunning 360 degree views. Off in the horizon to the North, there is a massive wind farm, which is the first renewable energy source that I had seen in India. It kind of reduces the eco-friendliness of the idea when all the electricity goes to light up the fence that runs the length of the India-Pakistan border, about 100km away, but at least they are trying. To the south, the extent of the drought is made clear because the holy lake is so small it is completely hidden by the surrounding temples.

The last stop in my tour of Jaisalmer was the Laxmi Temple, the main temple for Hindu's in the fort. From the outside this is not an imposing building at all, but from the steady stream of worshippers going in and out it is clearly an important place. Inside it is a fairly small temple, but the paintings on the cupola are quite stunning, done almost in the form of the miniature paintings that are typical in Rajathstan (I am not going to go into specifics here, but the pictures are highly detailed and colourful and always have guys with great moustaches and sideburns). It is unlike anything that I have seen in a Hindu temple and well worth ten minutes if you are in Jaisalmer.

In my life I have done two camel safaris, one in Egypt and one in Morocco and both have been stunning and the only problem is the camels. They are smelly beasts, that rock you worse that a hurricane (sorry, had to go there) and I keep sliding forward, creating the ever present risk of me becoming a eunuch. this has always been made up for by the stunning scenery and the feeling of doing something that men have been doing, unchanged since the beginning of history. After a forty five minute drive out into the desert, this proved to be true once more. I was given a camel called Raj (which I promptly renamed Sunshine, as I do all beasts I ride), and off we went into the desolate landscape.

Of all the places that I have been in the world, this is as close to the outback in Western Australia that I have ever seen. Basically flat, with a few hills in the distance, the predominant colors are yellow and brown (the Thar Desert doesn't have the red tinge that Australia does, but that is the only major difference). It is clearly and ancient, hot and tired land. The rocks themselves are flat and worn down to flat slabs, the work of an epochs worth of erosion. Yellow scrub clings tenaciously to life where sand and remains, and patiently awaits the next life bringing rains. Stunted and twisted trees stand almost exclusively along the dry creek beds and even they are the species that have small, shiny, dark olive green leaves that jealously guard every drop of precious moisture. It is no wonder at all that it is in lands like this that men have gone out full of doubt about the universe and have come back to found a religion.

We headed straight into the blazing sun, while a moderate breeze kicked up dirt and blew it right into our faces. To think that a trade caravan would have done this for many months. It must have been a harsh way to live. Just as the sun was turning the land around us into liquid gold and that magical hour in the desert when all travails of the day are forgotten and the soul is refreshed, we left the rocky path and entered a series of small sand dunes, our home for the night. Even though there are not a lot of sand dunes here, our campsite was located at the bottom of the dunes, creating the illusion of an endless sea of sand. While the camel drivers set up our camp cots we climbed the nearest dune to watch the last throes of a spectacular sunset. God bless pollution for magnificent, cloudless sunsets, where for the second time on this trip (and in my life) I saw the sun with different layers of orange and yellow.

Unlike the last time that I camped outside, on the banks of the Ganges, when there was a full moon, this time the moon was only a silver sliver, and even that set soon after sunset. The downside of this is that it is much darker for eating and making your way to the bathroom (anywhere behind the tent). The upside is that the stars are able to put on their best display. Given the complete lack of competition, the Milky Way looked like a great white sash of light across the sky. Venus, as is her way, shone brightest in the sky while satellites blinked their way from horizon to horizon and the occasional shooting star provided a momentary slash of light.

Before dinner, we had organized for some men and women from a nearby village to come out and do a performance of local singing and dancing. The musicians played bongo drums and a very cool flute while accompanied by a guy singing in Hindi. The two women wore long, flowing dresses that I knew were highly coloured, but in the dim star light (and a very weak fluorescent bulb) looked for all the world like were patterned in two dozen shades of grey, which was quite beautiful. I spent much of my time laying on my back, listening to the music, quietly tapping my foot along with the beat and staring at the glorious heavens above me. This was, until, everyone was dragged into the dancing circle and we joined in the festivities until it was time to eat, yet another superb vegetarian meal.

After dinner and the departure of the local entertainers we had to entertain ourselves and so we started singing random songs. When you get ten people, who only know the choruses of a random selection of song, the results can be quite horrific, especially when everyone seems half tone deaf. We went through the standard collection of classic rock and 80s pop ballads that everyone our age knows. Or at least thinks they know, until they have to sing it with no instrumentals or karaoke machine. God only knows what the group of French people on the next sand dune over thought. Fortunately for all within earshot, we eventually tired of singing and fell asleep in the cool desert air while staring at the stars.

There is nothing quite like watching the sun rise over the desert while still in bed, with a hot cup of tea in hand. It had actually gotten quite cold overnight and so the hot beverage was a welcome relief, while the horizon turned orange, then yellow until finally the sun snuck into sight. Rebecca and I had decided that we were going to walk along side the camels, rather than riding, back to the jeeps. For me it had nothing to do with the discomfort of riding, I actually wasn't that sore from the day before, but that we had a six hour bus ride ahead of us in the afternoon and my body was craving exercise. In the cool morning air, the hour walk was just what the doctor ordered. Given the ground was pretty much dead flat and over rocky ground, it was a very pleasant stroll. I also managed to get some pretty good photos of the group on their camels, even if Rene looked very uncomfortable most of the time.

Once we got back into town, everyone else headed up to the hotel for a quick shower and lunch before the bus ride to Jodhpur while I headed back to the lake. Finally, the sun was in the right position for some decent photos of the fort and I wasn't going to miss an opportunity. I also stopped to get a couple more of the best samosas that I have had in India. With more spice than anywhere else and a fresh batch straight out of the oil, washed down with a cold glass of apple juice, I couldn't think of a better way to bid adieu to the Golden City.

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Part of trip: The Big One

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